We understand that not all of our students that pass through the art department will be interested in a future career in the arts. In fact, only about 15% of our students study art in the advanced classes such as AP Art and IB Visual Art. Of those students, no more than half will apply to an Arts Institution as part of their Tertiary education plans.
We aim to support that small minority that need to produce high quality portfolios for their college applications, but who are also highly committed to creating artworks that are conceptually sophisticated and show advanced levels of skills and production techniques. These students can also take advantage of enrichment programs such at the Trinity Arts Awards. ACS Cobham was the first international school in the world to implement the Arts Award and have had two cohorts of students that have achieved Bronze, Sliver and Gold awards to date.
We also want the other 85% of students to have the benefit of exposure to the visual arts through making and researching. We want those students to adopt some of the Artistic Habits of Mind as promoted by Eric Booth. These help our students to explore creativity through the use of materials and processes, becoming more visually and culturally literate. We hope that they will maintain their interest in the visual arts in their professional and personal lives long after they have graduated from high school.
Use the menus at the top of the page to look at a snapshot of the experiences that the students have had in their art classes in this challenging and unusual year. You can see artwork produced in our generalist electives: Art 1 for students that are being exposed to some fundamental skills and will maybe be enthused enough to take another arts course in the high school next year; Art 2 electives from more confident artists looking to extend their interests in materials, processes and ideas; AP Art students, some of whom are able 10th and 11th graders wishing to be challenged by a rigorous course and receive external recognition for their efforts. A number of these students have used the AP Art and Design course as preparation for the IB Visual Art course. Our 12th Grade AP Art and Design students are using the AP course to prepare for university applications, where several have had offers from arts institutions overseas in Milan, Ontario and Savannah as well as in the UK. Finally there is work by IB Art students in year 1 and year 2 that prepare for a final exhibition at the end of the second year that is the culmination of their research and exploration of ideas that are personal to them and their interests.
We hope you enjoy your visit to our ACS Cobham High School Art galleries!